Brick By Brick
by svetl
Summary: Brick by brick he tore down her defenses. But when the walls come down, she would have to face the possibility of hurting one of them. Rin x OC x Haruka
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** So I really, really like Rin in season 2 of Free! He seemed like such a different person from season 1. Anyway, I was inspired to write a Free! Fiction after watching it. I'm still not sure if I should leave it as a one shot or continue it. I hope you guys enjoy this! Enjoy, read, review, follow, favourite! xxx

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Free!

* * *

She truly didn't think she would come to like him. It was like he changed into a different person overnight. Where he was sullen, morose, closed up and looked slightly violent before, he was now actually pretty decent and nice, a word she would never have associated with him months ago. He has gotten calmer as well not prone to violent outburst like he used to. In fact when presented with the 'new' him, she was understandably wary. Everyone else was quick to accept him back into the group like nothing has happened. But she wasn't as forgiving as the rest, he not only hurt her friends but her boyfriend as well. She had started going out with Haru shortly after the school year started. Haru, Makoto, Nagisa and even Rei might have forgotten what a prick he was but she wouldn't forget so easily lest he hurt her friends again. Which was why she was in a bad mood. Everyone had decided to come over to her house including Gou and they were just getting ready to start a movie when the doorbell rang. Being a good host, she got up to answer the door only to be confronted by the one person she wanted to see the least. Matsuoka Rin.

"Hey," he greeted.

She stood there, still not letting him in,"What are you doing here?"

"Ah, I'm sorry I forgot to inform you. I invited Rin along," she heard Makoto said from behind her.

"Fine," she said, opening to the door wider to let him in. If he knew she disliked him, he didn't let it show.

She walked back to the couch and sat next to Haru. He looked up for second and turned away, his hand brushing hers lightly. An imperceptible smile on his face. He was aloof and mostly very quiet, which in most people's opinion, made him a bad boyfriend. She doesn't disagree but she can't help who she fell in love with.

Nagisa started the movie and all of them settled down to watch the movie. She used this time to observe Rin, whom she considered an intruder in her home. He was sitting with Makoto and Gou and he seemed relaxed and genuinely enjoying himself. It wasn't like she hated him, just cautious.

"Are you enjoying the movie? Wanna come up to my bedroom?" she whispered to Haru with a blush on her face. When it comes to Haru, she was constantly forced to be the initiative one. If it was left to him, nothing will change, they might as well be friends.

"It's okay. I quite like the movie," he said, eyes glued to the television. Did she mentioned that Haru is also as thick as a block of wood? She fumed inwardly when she noticed Rin looking at her with a tiny smirk on his face. He must have heard their conversation. She felt her face burned in embarrassment and humiliation at the thought of Rin witnessing her rejection from Haru.

She stood up in huff, making her way to the kitchen. It really was frustrating sometimes when Haru acted all clueless. And then there was that niggling thought that maybe he wasn't clueless, he just couldn't be bothered with her. After all, she was the one who confessed to him first. Maybe he just didn't know how to say no. She sighed, there isn't any point in dwelling on the issue.

"He's just really clueless when it comes to things like that. Doesn't mean he doesn't care."

She jumped slightly, shocked by the sudden intrusion. She turned to see Rin leaning against the table, eyes averted. "Yeah. I know."

"Do you?" he shifted, the full weight of his gaze on her.

She shrugged.

"Well, believe it or not. It's up to you." He walked out, leaving her to stew in what he had just said.

That was probably the first chip on the walls that she'd built against Matsuoka Rin. Little did she know, it would crumbled soon after.

* * *

She swore she would be patient. She knew getting into the relationship that water and swimming would always be Haru's number one priority. In fact, she's even contented with letting Makoto and the rest take the number two spot as long as she was in top five. But was it too much to ask that he gets out of the damn pool _just once_ to celebrate her birthday with her? She was going to buy herself a birthday cake and gorged on it to drown her sorrows. She deliberated on buying a pint of chocolate ice cream as well. After all, there's a reason why it's called comfort food.

"Hey." It was Rin.

"Oh, it's you," she said, continuing to grab various other snacks.

"Having a party?" he looked pointedly at the food in her cart.

"Yes, and you're not invited."

He looked confused,"Eh... But I just got a call from Makoto to join them at the pool."

"They're not invited either. I'm throwing a pity party for myself," she said, still not looking at him.

He sighed,"Are you alright? Do you want me to call Haru?" He looked uncomfortable, like he didn't know how he should act.

She gestured _no_ with a wave. "I don't want to see him nor speak to him." She continued on her mission to stuff herself silly with food. After a while, she wasn't sure when, Rin left her alone.

After paying for her things, she lugged the bags out of the mall, surprised to see Rin standing outside. When he saw her, he made his way towards her, throwing her a small plastic bag.

"What's in it?" she peered into the bag cautiously. It was one of those cheap, plastic tiara made for children. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked, bemused.

"It's for you to wear to your pity party. You look miserable."

"I am miserable. Don't you know that the whole point of a pity party is to wallow in your own misery?" she said snottily with her nose in the air.

"Pfffttt... Have fun at your party. I'll try getting Haru to see some sense." He paused for a while as if deciding if he should continue,"Happy birthday, princess."

She didn't tell him it was her birthday and he left before she could even formulate a reply.

She felt the walls crumbled further.

* * *

It was one of those days when it was too cold to swim and Haru, Rin and her were all huddled in Makoto's room. Rin and Haru were playing video games, Makoto was trying to finish his homework and she was lying on the bed flipping through a magazine. After a while she got restless, looking at the progress of the game Rin and Haru were playing. She noticed that Haru was at a slight disadvantaged, lagging behind Rin slightly. With a glint in her eyes, she leaped unto Rin's back, her arms went around him to wrestle the game console away from him. She laughed as he tried pulling the console away from her.

"Oi, oi, this is cheating!" Rin complained, twisting away from her as she clung to him. With a frustrated sigh he turned around, abandoning his game console and started tickling her.

"O-okay-y... I-I give uppp... Ss-stop it," she laughed while he continued his assault until a light cough from Makoto snapped them out of their game. They jumped apart as if just realizing the compromising position they were in.

"Tch...That will teach you to mess with me," Rin said, picking up his console again, eyes not meeting hers.

She stuck her tongue out at him. She saw Haru looking at her with an inscrutable look on his face before his arm shot out and grabbed her arm to pull her closer to him. "Mine," he said apathetically. She felt herself flushed in embarrassment and wondered why on top of the joy she felt at Haru being possessive, she felt slightly annoyed as well.

Unbeknownst to her, the walls were already almost halfway down.

* * *

Her heart was in her throat and she raced down the stands, where she was sitting, to the pool. She felt like her lungs were going to burst out of her chest. The boys were just getting out of the pool and were fooling around and she saw Nagisa accidentally hit Rin and she saw him slipped and she thought she saw him knocked his head on the edge of the pool. By the time she got there Rin was already sitting up, one hand rubbing the side of his head.

"Oh my God, a-are you okay?" she asked, still breathless from her sprint to the poolside.

"I'm fine. I managed to break my fall before any real damage could be done," he looked at her taking in her dishelved appearance.

"Rinnn! I'm sorry," Nagisa wailed.

She visibly relaxed, sagging against the wall. "Kyou-chan! Your hand is bleeding," Gou said, rushing to her side.

"Oh, I must have scratched it against the side of the chairs when I was running down here," she said.

Rin made a move towards her but Haru got there before him ,"Idiot. Look what you've done," he looked at her hand, sighing.

"Ah, Haru, I brought bandages," Makoto said, coming back with the emergency kit.

"It's fine. It's just a small cut," she said

Haru ignored her and proceeded to wrap her left hand up. Rin was looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face and she found that she could not hold his stare.

"Thanks," she said quietly to Haru after he was done with bandaging her hand.

He just nodded in response.

When everyone was heading to the locker room, Rin slowed down to walk next to her. "Thanks."

"For what?" she looked at him confused.

"You were worried weren't you?" he said and made a move to grab her injured hand. He held it gently, inspecting it before looking at her again. "I'm sorry about your hand."

"I-it's not your fault," she stammered. "And it's fine now. Haru did a good job bandaging it."

"Ahh. Still, thanks anyway," he said before hastening his pace to catch up with the rest, leaving her behind.

For the life of her, she couldn't figure out the seemingly sad look in Rin's eyes or why the idea of him being sad made her sad as well.

At that time, the walls were almost completely down to it's last few bricks.

* * *

Haru wasn't completely unaware of his surroundings. Contrary to popular beliefs, he doesn't just think about water and swimming all the time. For example, for the past few days he has been thinking about Kyou. He could feel her withdrawing from him little by little. And he's not oblivious to the reason why. He thought that it was partially his fault if not entirely. It was cliched but he should have paid her more attention or at the very least gave her an indication that he loved her as well. It was the thought of losing her that prompt him into being more verbal and less apathetic, although he seemed to be failing at that. He wondered if it was too late though as he looked over to the pool where she was sitting on the edge of. Rin was standing about 3 feet behind her and she had her upper body turned towards him, her head tilted up to look at him as he said something to make her laugh. As if feeling his gaze on her, she turned to him and smiled.

_Smile_, he told himself. But years of being stoic proved that habits were hard to break. He merely nodded and continued swimming. He didn't fail to notice the crestfallen expression on her face when she thought he was being brusque with her nor did he missed how her expression brightened up again when she turned to Rin.

He wondered if she realized that the walls she had built against Rin were completely demolished.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** This short chapter is in Rin's point of view and there's not much development yet as it's mostly a rehash of the precious chapter. Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy it. As usual, enjoy, read, review, follow and/or favourite!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters from Free!

* * *

Rin thought she was beautiful the first time he saw her. It was in the second year of high school when he had just gotten back from Australia. By chance he saw her and his old friends. It was weird but when he was being a douchebag to his friends, her distaste for him made her even more appealing. He was used to girls falling all over themselves around him. To have this girl calling him out on his bullshit when all his friends put up with it was refreshing. She had never hid her dislike for him and it intrigued him even more. He was a shark, a predator, and every predator loves a good chase. It was really too bad that when he finally got his act together that she and Haru was dating. He had shrugged it off, there were plenty of beautiful girls out there. He didn't need to spoil his newly restored friendship with Haru over a girl.

But even after he got his act together and his friends forgave him, she still kept him at arms length. He could see the distrust in her eyes and he told himself not to be concerned over it. It wasn't like his livelihood depended on her opinion of him. And it wasn't like he could blame her for being suspicious. She didn't know how he was like before like Haru, Makoto and Nagisa did. She only knew him when he was being a jerk. Obviously she would have a hard time trusting his change. It irritated him that he wanted her to like him and accept him like his friends did. It didn't sit well with him that she disliked him and he was spending way too much time thinking about his friend's girlfriend. He thought the reason he was mildly intrigued by her was because he wasn't used to being disliked by girls. He thought things would get better once he proved himself to her that he's not a douche. Maybe then this silly mild obsession would go away.

It wasn't easy and it took some time when he finally saw that she no longer looked at him with suspicion in her eyes. She treated him like one of the guys. He was elated at first thinking his slight obsession would go away once he attained his goal. To his chargrin, it seemed to do the complete opposite. Where he was intrigued by her when she disliked him, now that she sees him as one of her friends, and she treated him more kindly he found that not only his interest in her had not abated, in grew in proportions. He told himself it was platonic. Haru was his friend, one of his very best. He would not be caught in the clichéd love triangle that tv dramas are so very fond of depicting. He could see that Haru liked her as well, maybe not as much as she would have liked but nonetheless Haru cared about her. He though it was ironic that Haru gets everything that Rin wanted so easily whereas Rin always had to work hard for it.

* * *

On her birthday when he bumped into her at the mall he'd almost lost his resolve to keep out of Haru's love life once he saw her distressed face. He knew it was her birthday. Even though she didn't offer up any explanations he knew Haru's absence had everything to do with that sad look on her face. It was probably the best if he had kept to his own business but when he saw Haru at the pool later he couldn't help interfering.

"I saw Kyou at the mall," Rin said to Haru as soon as he got into the pool.

Haru looked at him from the corner of his eyes, keeping silent.

"She looked upset. Isn't it her birthday today?" Rin pressed on even though it was clear Haru did not want to talk about it.

"Ah... But I really need to be in the pool today," Haru said.

"You better becareful. She's a nice girl. I wouldn't be surprised if someone steal her from right under your nose," Rin said. He knew Haru had not considered that possibility. It was just like swimming, he liked to claim he doesn't care about winning nor his time but the thing is he doesn't believe he would lose. It was the same with Kyou.

His words seemed to struck a nerve in Haru and he started swimming away from Haru. He had done what he could, the rest is up to Haru.

* * *

He remembered that day when they were at Makoto's house playing game due to the rain. He was playing with Haru and it looked like he was going to beat Haru when he felt her arms around him, trying to get the game console away from him. He was so painfully aware of how her body was pressed to his back, her arms around him and the faint smell of peonies that accompanied her that it took him a while to regain his composure. When he felt his heartbeat slowed to it's regular rate he turned around laughed, trying to act like she didn't affect him and started tickling her. It wasn't until he heard a light cough from Makoto that he realized the compromising position they were in; with her hair fanned out across the pillow, both her wrist pinned on top of her head by one of his hand, he was straddling her, the other hand on her sides. Both their cheeks colored instantly before they jumped apart.

He went back to his game, his heart throbbing relentlessly. He pretended not to notice when Haru grabbed her and pulled her close. He ignored the jealousy that surged through him and pretended he didn't hear Haru whispered to her "Mine." He told himself it was platonic. He had been telling himself that a lot lately.

* * *

He had never really understood the appeal of having a girlfriend. Yeah, he had dated but it was all casual. He didn't think he needed a girl tagging along with him wherever he went, or having to care for another person when he's so busy with practices. It seemed like it was more trouble than it's worth anyway. He didn't think he had the time nor energy to spend on going on dates when it could be spent practicing. The girls he had dated only casually was enough work that he wondered how much more work would having a girlfriend cause him.

That was what he truly thought. Until he saw her practically flying down the stairs when she saw Nagisa knocked him over. It was the expression on her face that made him doubt his previous thoughts. Her face was red and her eyes were wide with so much worry. He could see the concern in her eyes and the effort she exerted getting to him when she thought he was injured to the point that she didn't even realized she had cut herself on her hand making her way to him. He thought then that it wouldn't be so bad to have someone care so much for him. He had unconsciously moved towards her to look at her bleeding hand when Haru made his way towards her. Rin thought that it might not be so bad taking care of another person and having the other person caring for him. He wouldn't have minded binding up her bleeding hands for her. That was when he knew for sure that he could no longer tell himself that it was all platonic, not on his part at least.

On their way out, he had slowed down to walk next to her. After thanking her, he grabbed her hand looking at her injury before letting go. It surprised him how much he didn't want to let go of her hands. He knew that now that he was aware of his own feelings, he should make a bigger effort in keeping things platonic between them. It wouldn't be fair to Haru otherwise and he knew Haru is very astute contrary to his appearance. If he kept this up, Haru would know that his best friend is in love with his girlfriend.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: So, the plot is finally moving albeit a little slowly. This chapter contains quite an amount of fluff between Kyou and Haru so I hope all you Rin and Kyou shippers will bear with it :D Anyway, forgive me if there are any inconsistencies or mistakes. As usual, I hope all of you enjoy, read, review, favourite and/or follow this story! xxx

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Free!

* * *

Winter has almost ended with the beginning of Spring slowly showing. Kyou was relieved to say the least. Winter has never failed to put Haru in a sulky mood because the coldness deterred him from swimming. Now that spring break is over, a new term is beginning and all of them will be in their final year at school. To be honest she was quite eager for school to start, she had spend the entire break not doing much and not seeing most of everyone except for Makoto and Haru. Haru was contented soaking in the tub at his house and she could tell he'd rather be left alone to stew in his moodiness. She'd went out a few times with Makoto when both of them failed to drag Haru out with them.

"Good morning!"

She looked up, startled,"Oh, Makoto! Have you been waiting long?" Ever since she met Haru and Makoto, they had worked out a routine. If they were going anywhere together, she would walked to the steps leading to Haru's house and meet up with Makoto there, then together they would make their way to Haru's house to collect him.

He shook his head, "Nah, I just got here as well. We better hurry if we don't want to be late." Even though he said that, he was still petting the white stray cat that has been around since last Spring. Finally after what felt like hours, he reluctantly put the kitten down and trudged up the stairs to Haru's house.

As usual nobody answered when they knocked on the door. Kyou and Makoto exchanged a look.

"I'll take the kitchen. I'll start frying the mackerel. It'll save us some time," Kyou said.

Makoto nodded,"I'll get him out of the tub."

She took out the pan and the fish and started frying them with practiced motion. She'd done this countless times that it was like she was on auto pilot. As she was taking the fish out of the pan, she could hear the boys' footsteps approaching the kitchen.

"Morning," she turned around to greet Haru.

"Aah. Morning," Haru said solemnly.

"Your mackerel is done," she said, walking over to the table to place the fish on it. As she walked pass Haru, he grabbed her gently by the arm and pulled her close to plant a kiss on the crown on her hair before letting her go. She tilted her head to look at him and gave him a tiny smile.

Her heart was still fluttering in her chest as she watched Makoto rushing Haru. It had been weeks since Haru was in a good mood and it probably had something to do with them heading to Samezuka Academy and the fact that they had an indoor pool there. The thought of Samezuka Academy inadvertently brought her thoughts to Rin. She'd not seen him much over the break and the few times she had seen him he had been acting a little strange. He'd refused to look at her and when she spoke to him, he would give her the brush off albeit politely. The last time she'd seen him was almost 3 weeks ago. It was almost like he was trying avoid her. She wondered if she was thinking too much but she really couldn't get over the feeling that she was right. She sighed inwardly, maybe today she would be able to ask if him if everything's okay.

"Kyou-chan, stop day dreaming. We're running late. Let's go." Makoto's voice snapped her out of her reverie.

"I'm coming," she said, hurriedly grabbing her things and running to the door.

As they made their way to the train station, Haru slowed down to wait for her. He held her hands when she was near and resumed their walk. She saw a hint of a blush on his face as she looked at him. She snuggled closer to him, she had expected him to widened their distance but was surprised when he didn't do anything. She smiled thinking that it was a good beginning for spring.

* * *

When they arrived, they were taken in by the commotion. It was loud and noisy and she couldn't tell what was happening. She turned to Gou, who met them at Samszuka High, to asked if she knew what was going on.

"It's a tradition at Samezuka. He's supposed to swim 100 meters for 100 times until someone beats him."

She turned to look at Rin. He looked at little broader at the shoulders and he seemed taller to her.

"Ehhh! But that's not possible," Rei interjected.

"Aah, but the captain defies all logic," Rin shrugged.

At that moment, Captain Mikoshiba noticed them and made his way towards them. Somehow or other the boys got roped into racing Samezuka Academy in a 400 meters freestyle relay. It didn't take any convincing at all for Haru who just wanted to swim. In fact, before the captain even finished speaking, he was already stripping down his clothes.

Before the race started, she tried talking to Rin. He was standing at the side, observing his teammates swimming and she thought it was a good time to approach him.

"Hey," she said softly as she stood next to him.

She saw him glanced down at her before looking back at the pool. "Hey." He didn't say anything else after that and if she wasn't 100% sure he was trying to avoid her earlier, then she was now.

"Ummm... Is everything okay?" she asked hesitantly.

He sighed, impatient, "Nothing's wrong. I'm actually just really busy right now."

He turned to walk away and Kyou's hand shot out own it's own accord to tug on his sleeves. "Are you angry at me or something?"

* * *

He felt her tugging at his sleeves and when he saw the dejected expression on her face, he felt himself softened despite himself. Her fringe had grown longer since the last time he saw her. He clenched his hands, keeping them at his side as he resisted the urge to tuck that stray piece of fringe behind her ears. He heard her asking if he was angry at her. He wanted to laugh at the cruelty of the situation. How could he tell her that it was better he kept his distance from her because he thinks that he might like her in a non platonic way and that he enjoys her company a little _too_ much? How would she react then? He entertained the thought of telling her the truth then maybe she would be so horrified that she would keep her distance from him.

"I'm not angry. I've just been busy," he said in a kinder tone.

"Oh. Yeah, okay," she tucked her hair behind her ears before continuing,"If there's anything, you know you can talk to me right? I know you're Haru's friend first but we are friends too, aren't we?"

He gave her a small nod and was about to lift his left hand up to ruffled her hair when he heard a voice yelling his name. "Rinnnnnnn!"

Before he could react appropriately, he saw a small form charging towards his direction and launched itself unto his body. He almost toppled over by the impact and his hands reflexively tightened around the person's body.

He looked down to identify the person clinging on to him, aware that they were garnering looks from people around them. He saw familiar muted green eyes looking up at him.

"Shiori?" Surprise evident in Rin's voice.

* * *

The girl retracted her hands from Rin's neck and stood in front if him. She was pretty. She wasn't very tall, just slightly taller than Kyou and she had very long black hair. Her eyes were wide and almond shaped, her nose was straight with a generous sensuous lips. Kyou was curious at the identity of the girl standing so boldly in front of Rin, even more so when she saw the awe and disbelief on Rin's face.

"What are you doing here?" Rin asked with a huge smile on his face.

"I transferred here on a student exchange program for my last year as a senior. I'm officially a student at the sister school of Samezuka," she said. "It's been a while," she continued shyly.

"Aah. It's good to see you again."

Kyou heard Shiori said student exchange program. That meant this girl would be someone Rin knew back in Australia. She pushed down the feeling of uneasiness that was slowly welling up in her and made to retreat, feeling a little like an intruder intruding on their reunion. But before she could escape back to the safety of her friends she heard Rin calling out to her.

"Where's my manners. This is Kagome Kyou. Kyou, this is Takahashi Shiori," Rin said, pushing Kyou forward.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Kyou said.

"Likewise," Shiori said, not making any further small talks.

Luckily Rin swooped in for the rescue,"Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of my friends."

The ease in which Rin reached for Shiori's hands as he pulled her away to meet his friends from Samezuka and Iwatobi did not escape Kyou's eyes. More than once today she wondered what was Rin's relation to the girl. His body language seemed to indicate that they were very familiar with one another and the casual way that Rin and her kept touching each other suggested that they were probably closer than friends once upon a time.

She was so engrossed in her thought that she didn't notice Haru coming up next to her until he took her hands into his own.

"Oh, hey. Have you met Rin's friend?" she asked.

Haru nodded.

She decided to push all thoughts of Rin and his friend out of her mind and telling herself it was none of her business anyway. "Ready for your match?"

"Hmm," he nodded affirmatively before abruptly changing topic,"Do you want to come over to my place for dinner tonight?"

She was so surprised she could feel her jaw hitting the floor. In the months that they had dated, she had constantly felt that they dynamics of their relationship hadn't changed much from when they were friends. For Haru to take the initiative was completely unheard of. She nodded, swallowing thickly before replying,"I would love to!"

* * *

She sat through the race, cheering for her team as they swam while Shiori was making quite a spectacle of herself as she cheered for Rin when Samezuka won the relay. It really wasn't that Kyou didn't like Shiori, to begin with Kyou was _never_ the type to warm up to people instantly. With that thought in her head, she justified her actions of not being as friendly as she probably should to the new girl.

* * *

She was helping the guys get their things together as Captain Mikoshiba was giving his retirement speech. The boys were busy drying off as she helped them put their googles in their respective bags and separated their wet swimming attires into a different bag.

She felt a pair of arms hugging her from behind, "Thank you, Kyou-chan! You're the best!" Nagisa said.

"Okay, okay, I got it. Now let go off me before you strangle me to death," she laughed.

"Oh, look! Rin-Rin is being appointed as captain by Captain Mikoshiba," Nagisa pointed out.

She continued her tasks of separating the boys' swimming attire as a debate broke out between Nagisa, Rei and Gou on whether Rin's a good a captain or not. When she was finally done with her task, most people were already trickling out of the indoor pool and she found Rin, Shiori and Nitori standing around talking with the boys from Iwatobi.

"Shall we go to a yakiniku restaurant since all of us are together and onii-chan's friend is here as well?" Gou suggested enthusiastically.

"Yay! I want to eat yakiniku as well," Nagisa eagerly agreed, "Rei-chan, you're coming as well!"

"I wasn't planning on declining the invitation anyway," Rei said, pushing his glasses up.

"Onii-chan?" Gou looked at her brother hopefully.

"I guess I'll come as well. Do you mind Shiori?" Rin asked.

She shook her head, smiling.

"In that case, if Rin-senpai is going then I'll come as well," Nitori said timidly.

"I'll come," Makoto said, smiling.

Then as a whole, almost everyone turned to look at her and Haru expectantly.

"Uhh... Well... The thing is," she started saying, fidgeting as she fumbled with her words.

"Sorry, we've already made plans for tonight." Haru interjected. She looked at him gratefully, thankful not having to decline the invitation on her own.

"Ehhh... Haru-chan! That's so unlike you. Where are you guys going? I want to come along too," Nagisa whined, latching himself to Haru's right arm. It was as if Haru's the de facto leader, everyone always wants to be around Haru even though he's so stoic.

"You can't. We are going to my place," Haru said in a deadpan manner.

She could feel the words sinking in as a few the faces in front of her turned red and in unison they all went, "Ehhhhhhhhh!"

Her own face coloring as well, she frantically waved her hands,"It's not like that. Geez, get your heads out of the gutter."

She saw from the corner of her eyes Rin turning to walk away as Shiori trailed after him, hands on his arms. She heard Makoto congratulating Haru and Nagisa shooting her knowing looks.

"You guys, leave Haruka-senpai and Kyou-senpai alone!" Rei said a few times before the commotion stopped.

"Anyway, we'll head home first. See you guys tomorrow," Haru said, as he slung his bags over his shoulders and pulled her along to the exit as she waved goodbye to everyone.

* * *

"I thought we are eating in?" Kyou was confused. They were 5 minutes away from home when he suddenly pulled her into a Chinese restaurant.

"I didn't think you would want to eat mackerel. We can order takeout here and eat at home," he said, his expression remained blank.

She smiled. She really had no idea why but Haru for once has been acting like her boyfriend instead of her friend. She quickly gave a silent prayer hoping his behavior would last.

* * *

When they got home, she started taking the plates and cutleries out from the cabinets and putting the food on the plates while Haru went to change. It's the first time in a while since they had been able to be alone like this. She felt her hands go sweaty from nervousness and her heart rate was going at a 100 miles an hour.

"Do you wanna bring the food out to the living room? We can watch a movie while eating," Haru suggested.

She nodded as she started bringing the plates to the living room.

They sat in silence eating as they watched some movie that Haru put on. Even when they were both done eating, Haru was still quiet, seemingly engrossed in the movie. She stood up to bring the dishes to the back so that she could wash them. Haru didn't seem to notice that she was gone from his side, she noted.

When she came out she saw Haru had moved to sitting on the couch, eyes still glued to the television. She made her way to him and sat next to him gingerly. When he did not react, she decided to leaned on him, hugging one of his arms. He didn't seem like he minded and Kyou settled in, making herself comfortable as she turned to watch the television as well.

She didn't know how long she had been watching the movie but she was watching on screen as the villain was revealed to be the protagonist's best friend when she felt Haru's stare on her.

"Are you okay?" she asked in confusion. Her face scrunched up in concern as she moved closer to him to feel his forehead.

He gently pushed her hands away, holding on to it. "I'm fine." Kyou felt her heart skipped a beat as his face drew closer and closer to her face. His eyes were looking at her and his face was still a mask of indifference when his face was finally an inch away from hers. She could see the tip of his ears was red even though the tone of his voice was indifferent when he said her name before pressing his lips to hers. The moment he captured her lips, she felt him pulling her closer into his lap. His lips are warm and soft as they worked around her lips. She felt his tongue licking at the seams of her lips as she opened her mouth to grant his tongue entrance. She felt her hands fisting the shirt at the front of his chest as she pulled him closer. They'd kissed before but never like this seeing as how cold Haru usually was. She was elated from the feel of his mouth on her and his hands around her waist. She was happy and for once she felt that maybe her relationship with Haru was working after all. Even that 1 millisecond of Rin's face flashing through her mind as Haru kissed her couldn't ruin the happy mood she was in. She had no idea what it meant and she wasn't going to dwell on it.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Yay, another update in less than a day. I really like this chapter a lot and I hope you all like it too. And I don't usually make it a habit to ask for reviews but please review if you enjoy the story or otherwise. It really motivates to write more when I read reviews. Anyhow, enjoy, read, review, follow and/or favourite! xxx

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Free!

* * *

It was close to 11 pm when Kyou finally left Haru's house. Haru had offered to walk her home but she had declined vehemently. She needed to regain her composure after their date night and with Haru around, her heartbeats would definitely not be returning to it's regular beat. She was recapitulating the events of her date night with Haru with a smile on her face. She pulled her jacket closer to her body. It was still quite cold out and she wished she'd put on something warmer or a thicker jacket at least. She hopped on to the raised platform lining the walkway. She tried walking on the narrow surface of the platforms, arms wide open trying to maintain the precarious balance.

"Kyou-senpai!"

She lost her concentration and almost fell before regaining her balance. She looked up to see Rei calling out to her. Around him was Makoto, Nagisa, Rin, Shiori and Nitori. Gou must have gone home because of her early curfew. She felt them judging her appearance; disheveled hair from Haru's hand constantly running through it and tugging it, kissed swollen lips, flushed cheeks and rumpled clothes. It was obvious she'd hooked up with Haru.

She cleared her throat trying to cover up her embarrassment at being caught doing the walk of shame, "What's everyone doing here anyway?"

"Since school is starting soon, everyone decided to hang out a little longer. We are going over to my place," Makoto explained.

"I wanted all of us to go over to Haru-chan's house but Rei said I should give you both some privacy. Ne, Kyou-chan, come along with us and call Haru-chan as well," Nagisa said enthusiastically.

She pretended she didn't hear the first part of what Nagisa said. "Yeah, I'll come along for a bit," she took out her phone to call Haru but nobody picked up, "He's not picking up. Must be in the tub. I'll try again in a while."

* * *

They made their way to Makoto's place leisurely and somehow or other she had ended up walking next to Shiori with Rin and Nitori right behind them. What happened next happened so fast that she literally didn't know what hit her until it was over. All she knew was she heard Rin yelling and she was turning to look when she saw Rin pulling Shiori back by the arms and tucking her under his arms protectively. Kyou had a millisecond to wonder what was going on before she felt an intense pain on her shoulder and the next thing she knew she had fallen to the ground.

"Oh my gosh, Rin! If you hadn't pulled me back I don't know what would've happened to me," she heard Shiori said, her face was pale.

"Kyou!" she heard Makoto yelling her name.

She sat up in a daze, not registering what had happened and why everyone was crowding around her looking so concerned. "What happened?"

"The white cat. I think it was on the balcony you were walking under and it knocked one of those big potted plants over," Makoto said with worry lacing his voice. She could see he was assessing her for injuries.

Understanding dawned on her. Rin had reflexively pulled Shiori back. _Not_ her. She knew it was irrational but she could feel a surge of hurt welling up and threatening to overwhelm her. It wasn't like she was best friend with Rin and he had known Shiori longer so it wasn't his fault at all that he had reflexively pulled Shiori back. And it was unfair anyway to fault him for something that was out of his control. Although to be fair, even if Rin had the time to think, she wasn't sure he would choose to save her first.

"She's bleeding heavily on her shoulders and she's got a cut on her right cheek," she heard someone said and she felt someone brushing her cheeks. She looked up to see Rin kneeling next to her.

"Is she okay?" She heard Nagisa asked frantically.

"Stop crowding around her," she heard Rei said futilely.

"Kyou! Kyou! Can you hear me?" Rin said again.

"I think she's in shock. It doesn't seemed like she's registering anything," Makoto said.

She felt light taps on her cheeks and her eyes snapped back to Rin's maroon eyes. "Kyou, answer me. Are you okay?" she heard Rin said.

She pushed his hands away, she couldn't stand to look at him now. If she looked at him now she had a feeling the tears gathering behind her eyes would spill.

"I'm fine," she replied, directing her answer at Makoto, she refused to look at Rin.

"You will need stitches on your shoulders," Makoto said grimly.

"Can you stand?" Rei asked.

She nodded and tried to get up shakily. She grabbed on to Rei and dismissed Rin's already outstretched hands.

"I'm fine. We need to get to Haru's and he can bring me to the hospital. I don't want to let my parents know," she said calmly.

Makoto turned to Rin, Nitori and Shiori, "I'm sorry but we should really bring her to the hospital now. I wouldn't mind if you guys want to wait at my house first but Rei and Nagisa will want to come along to the hospital as well. It's best that you guys go home first."

An uncomfortable silence descended upon them as soon as Makoto completed his sentence. She had no idea what prompted the usually kind and patient Makoto to say something like that. His words had basically insinuated that Rin and his friends were outsiders and that their help were not needed. He had basically drawn the proverbial line in the proverbial sand. His cleverly disguised words had also insinuated that they weren't welcome to accompany them to the hospital neither did he expect them to have the courtesy to offer to follow them to the hospital.

She saw Rin's face twisted in anger before he got it under control, "We will all come with you," she heard the steel in his voice.

"It's really okay. There's no point having so many people there. I'm sure they have everything under control," she added quickly, pointing towards her Iwatobi friends.

She saw his jaw clenched as he turned to tell Shiori and Nitori to head back first but she wasn't in any mood to wait around plus her shoulders were really hurting. She motioned for Rei to leave them behind as she, Rei, Makoto and Nagisa made their way to Haru's house.

* * *

When Haru opened the door and saw her drenched in blood, she saw his face visibly paled and his eyes were filled with fear. She must have been delirious because she felt like laughing. In the months that they had been going out, it was the first time that she'd seen so much emotions on his face. She wondered briefly if she had to painted in blood before he would show any emotions. He took her into his arms and she instantly sagged against him, relieved flooding through her.

Makoto started explaining everything to Haru as Rei reappeared from behind Haru and tied a cloth around her wound to stop her bleeding. Haru got his wallet from his room and jacket off the coat rack before they all left the house.

As soon as they opened the door, she saw Rin standing there.

"I've sent the rest home first. I'd like to come along. I've already hailed a cab for us," Rin said with an edge in his voice.

She really didn't want Rin to come along. "Actually, all of you should go home. I don't want to make you guys wait at the hospital needlessly. I have Haru with me," she said.

"But, Kyou-chan..." Nagisa began before he was silenced with meaningful look from Rei.

Rei being as perceptive as he is probably figured out that she didn't want Rin there and she had no choice but to send all of them home if she wanted to stop him. "Hey, let's go home Nagisa. We'll come see you tomorrow Kyou-senpai," he bowed before pulling Nagisa off with him.

"Don't look at me, I'm coming," Makoto said shrugging.

"I'm coming," Rin said again.

She heaved a sigh. There really is no point is arguing with him when he's so set on coming along.

* * *

The room she was in was sterile and white in color. She was glad the doctor allowed Haru in with her especially after finding out she would need 11 stitches in total. The cut had been quite deep, running diagonally from the top of her shoulders to her deltoid. The doctor had started out by cleaning the wound with some liquid that stung so bad but nothing compared to the feeling of the needle threading in and out of her skin even with the numbing injection. She was grateful that she had Haru's hand to squeezed each time the needle went in and out of her flesh. She distracted herself by looking at Haru. He'd not spoken much but he looked grim and he looked at her with concern in his eyes. She would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy him worrying about her.

The doctor finally stitched the last of the stitches. After taping some gauze over the wound, he gave them the okay and instructions on how to care for the wound.

As they exited the room into the hallway, Haru told her to wait in the waiting room as he walked in the opposite direction to collect her medicine. As she was approaching the turn to the waiting room she heard raised voices before they were lowered into furious whispers.

"For fuck's sake, how many times do you want me to say I'm sorry. I truly am. It wasn't like I wanted her to get hit by a potted plant. And Shiori is important to me. It's not fair to make me choose. It's reflex. It's not like I consciously made a choice for her to get hurt," she heard Rin whispering furiously.

She heard Makoto sighed, "I know it's not your fault but it's just...I don't know... It just pisses me off okay?" Makoto said.

"Shit. You...," she couldn't hear the following words, "...her..." She heard Rin said disbelievingly. It was as if he couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth. As if the revelation he just had was too absurd to be true.

"Why are you so surprised? Aren't you also in the same-" Makoto said but before he could finished Kyou decided that she really shouldn't be eavesdropping, especially when she can't even make heads or tails of the conversation. She had stepped out from behind the corner, and once they saw her, it effectively stopped the conversation they were having.

"11 stitches!" She grinned at Makoto, motioning to her shoulders.

"Glad you're okay," he said ruffling her hair, "Where's Haru?"

"He's gone to collect my meds at the pharmacy in the north wing," she replied.

"This hospital is really too big for it's own good. I better go check on him," Makoto said, giving Rin a look before walking away.

* * *

She wanted desperately to ask Makoto to not leave her alone with Rin. After all the excitement had calmed down, she had began to feel guilty and foolish for overreacting towards the whole _Rin-prioritizing-Shiori's-safety_ situation. It really wasn't his fault. It was _reflex_ after all. In fact, even if Rin had time to think, she wasn't sure that he would pick her over Shiori. And seriously, how could she expect him to save her when he's only known her for months when he'd known Shiori for much longer. She felt really bad for being so rude to him earlier on and decided that she had to apologize.

"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time. After a quick look at each other they bursted out laughing.

She held up one hand as if to stop him. "Me first. First of all, you have absolutely _nothing_ to be sorry for. I'm serious, so stop feeling sorry. Second, _I_ am sorry. I was rude earlier on and it was uncalled for. I-I was just scared and I needed a familiar face I guess," she said. She couldn't tell him the _real_ reason she was rude earlier. It might seem like she was jealous if she'd told him that she didn't like it that he had reflexively saved Shiori first. It was better to tell a white lie than to tell the truth in this scenario.

* * *

Rin felt a sting in his heart at her words. _I needed a familiar face._ Is that how she sees him? That when it comes to down to it, compared to her Iwatobi friends, he was no better than a stranger? Not that he could blame her. He hardly got to see her as it is and he had spent the past few weeks avoiding her when she probably see most of the guys from Iwatobi almost everyday. And she was right to see him that way, he was responsible for her injuries after all. If it was Makoto that was standing behind her, he was sure she wouldn't be in this predicament now.

Under the fluorescent lights, he thought that she looked even paler and her face looked drawn. She looked so frail that he had to resist the urge to gather her into his arms. He watched her wrapped her arms around her body as she attempted to give him a smile.

"Regardless of what you said, I'm sorry," he said, eyes drawn to the gauze taped to her shoulder.

* * *

They sat silently for a while before Kyou broke the silence. "Can I... Can I be nosy?" she asked.

He snorted at her choice of words, "What?"

"Is Shiori your ex-girlfriend?" she paused before adding, "Or girlfriend?"

"No, nothing like that. She's important to me." He paused, his face coloring a little as he continued, "I used to like her a lot. A year before I came back, I confessed to her and I got completely rejected."

She smiled. "Is that possible? A girl who is resistant to you?" she said teasingly. "No wonder you liked her so much. She sounds different from all the girls you usually surround yourself with."

"She was the one who was there for me when I was stuck in a rut back in Australia. In fact, she was the one that encouraged me to come back here to face my fears," he said.

She felt uncomfortable the more she listened to him talk. Even more so after seeing the soft expression on his face as he talked about Shiori. She craned her neck subtly, trying to see if Haru or Makoto were coming back anytime soon.

"Am I boring you?" he teased, one eyebrow raised with a brazen smile.

"Ah... Sorry I was just wondering what is taking Haru and Makoto so long, it's been more than 15 minutes," she said evasively.

She checked her watch, "It's almost 1 now. Has the last train left yet? You can leave now you know. As you can see with your own eyes I'm completely fine."

"It's fine, I'll stay. The last train left ages ago. The plan was to take cab home after hanging out at Makoto's place anyway."

"If you're going to stay on, you might as well just sleep over at Haru's place. It's getting really late and I'm sure you'll get into trouble for getting back late to the dormitory," she reasoned.

"Speaking of, won't your parents be worried that you're not home yet?" he asked, curious.

"Usually yes, but seeing as how they have not bombarded my phone with calls and messages, I'd guessed they were asleep. I'll just text them and tell them I'm sleeping over at Makoto's."

"Why Makoto not Haru?"

"You have to ask? First of all, they're hardly going to let me sleep over at my boyfriend's house. Unchaperoned. Second, they know Makoto's parents quite well."

"Then I'll sleep over at Makoto's place as well," he said, not looking at her.

She was taken a back and was about to formulate a reply when Haru and Makoto walked in.

Haru walked up to her, tucking her stray hair behind her right ear, lightly stroking the cut in her cheeks, "Are you feeling alright? Does it still hurt?" he asked solemnly.

She shook her head, blushing, unused to Haru showing his affection.

"We should go. Come on," Makoto said as they all stood up.

The four of them quietly exited the hospital and entered the cab. As it turned out, all of them ended up sleeping over at Makoto's house.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** So in this chapter I have included a favorite quote of mine from The Princess Bride. Those of you who are familiar with the book would definitely understand the reference but I've included a little explanation to those who are not familiar with it. Again, I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Enjoy, read, review, follow and/or favourite! xxx

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Free!

* * *

It was pitch black except for a sliver of light coming through the crack in the curtains. Kyou had been tossing and turning for the pass 20 minutes. She laid on Makoto's bed, eyes wide open staring at the ceiling. The boys were asleep on the futons on the floor. After a while, she sat up on the bed, a quick glance at the clock showed that it was 4.15 in the morning.

"Can't sleep?"

She peered into the darkness, "Rin?"

"Mm. You okay? Does your shoulder hurts?"

"Yeah. It hurts when I move and I can't get comfy enough to go to bed," she whispered into the darkness.

"Sorry. I should've pulled the both of you back."

"Geez, stop it with the guilt. It's fine," she whispered. She swung her legs to the side of the bed, gingerly making her way pass Haru and Makoto's sleeping form.

"Where are you going?"

"Going to pop another painkiller. And stop saying you're sorry. It's getting old."

She rummaged through her bag on the floor looking for the medications the doctor prescribed her. When she found it, she uncapped a bottle of water to wash the pill down. Instead of going back to bed, she sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. She could see Rin's form on the futon, lying down with both hands behind his head.

"Why are you awake anyway?" she asked him.

"Too much excitement today. Can't sleep," he said wryly. She could almost imagine the sardonic smirk on his face as he said it.

A sudden ding startled her and she looked around for the source of the sound until she saw Rin's hands fumbling under his pillow before he pulled his phone out. She heard him laughed a little after reading his text message. "What's so funny?" she couldn't help asking out of curiousity.

"Just Shiori," he said distractedly without looking at her, hands busy typing on his phone.

"Oh, right. That totally explains what's so funny," she said in a snarky tone. She made to get up, her mood suddenly soured.

"Huh? What?" He looked up from his phone, confused.

"Don't mind me," she carefully made her way back to the bed.

He sat up then, bewildered. "Did I... Did I say something that offended you?"

"No." She pulled the blanket over her head and turned to the wall. It wasn't long before she felt a tug on her blanket. She burrowed herself deeper into the blanket, refusing to relinquish her hold on the blanket.

"Let go of the blanket," Rin whispered.

"Go away," she said, her voice muffled by the blanket.

He gave a hard yank and the blanket slid out under her, exposing her face. His face was directly on top of hers, looking down at her. She huffed and turned her face to the side.

"Aren't we a little too old to be pouting?" He looked at her with amusement on his face.

"Can't hear you." She plugged her ears with her fingers. The movement caused her to wince in pain as it pulled on her injured shoulder.

His eyebrows instantly furrowed in concern but he didn't comment on it. "Come on, princess, what's got you in a huff _again_ this time?" The last time he had called her princess was during her birthday when she met him at the mall. She knew that he used the term in a mocking way and not as a term of endearment but she didn't mind it.

She heard his phone ding again but he made no move to check his phone. She tried to suppressed the absurd satisfaction that she got from that. "I told you it was nothing," she said trying to hide the small smile on her face.

He seemed to sense her mood lightening, "If you say so. Can I bribe my way back into your good grace, Your Highness?" he asked teasingly.

"You owe me lunch and a double scoop of ice-cream. Now, scram. I'm sleepy," she said, trying to hide the full blown smile on her face from him.

He laughed and ruffled her hair. "As you wish."

Her cheeks reddened instantaneously and she felt her heart skipped a beat. She knew he didn't mean anything by it. It was quite a common phrase and she was sure he couldn't have known that it was one of her favorite quote from The Princess Bride. 'As you wish' was what the protagonist, a farm boy, used to say to the girl he likes. 'As you wish' was his secret way of saying 'I love you' to the girl without making his feelings known. It meant that he would do anything she asked because he loves her.

* * *

Rin felt mortified. He'd quickly gone back to his futon when he'd realized what he had let slip out of his mouth. He had seen Kyou reading The Princess Bride before and he found out that it was one of her favorite books. He had known about the phrase 'As you wish' because Shiori had made him watch the movie version of it. He saw how Kyou's cheeks had reddened instantly as soon as the words were uttered that he was sure she got the reference.

A part of him was thrilled at the banter they had going on but another part of him knew that the banter he enjoyed so much with her was walking a very, very fine line between it being platonic and flirtatious. Flirting with Haru's girlfriend was definitely a bad idea. Especially when he wasn't sure yet about how he felt for her on the platonic front. But despite all that back and forth in his mind, he had a huge smile on his face the entire time.

* * *

Morning came to soon and she had to rush back home so her parents wouldn't make a fuss. The plan was to meet back at Haru's place at noon. They were making the best of their remaining holiday before school starts again. She took a shower and had brunch with her family before making her way to Haru's house.

When she arrived, she saw that Rei and Nagisa were already there. Another quick look showed that Shiori was also there, perched carefully on Rin's lap. Nagisa saw her first and came running towards her, hands outstretched to hug her.

"Kyou-channnn! Are you okay? How's your shoulder doing?" Nagisa asked, both arms around her.

"Too tight! C-can't breathe," she gasped, tapping at Nagisa's arms.

"Nagisa," a solemn voice said, before Nagisa was pulled off her.

"Haru," she beamed at her boyfriend.

He gave her a small nod, pulling her over to where he was sitting.

"Kyou-senpai, I'm glad you're okay," Rei said.

"Thanks."

Kyou felt Shiori looking at her and she turned to look. "I'm glad you're okay as well, Kyou-san," Shiori said politely.

"Ah, thanks for your concern," Kyou said a little awkwardly.

It seemed that Makoto could sense the tension because he quickly took over the conversation, trying to distract Shiori. Kyou looked at Rin and she saw him giving her an unfathomable look. And she mouthed What? to him to which he just shrugged off and mouthed Nothing in return. She felt Haru's hand covering hers and she shot him a small smile. He pulled her to him, caging her in between his legs with her back towards his chest.

"What should we do today? Should we go swimming?" Nagisa suggested.

"Don't you guys already swim everyday? Don't you wanna do something else?" Shiori asked.

"Swimming," Haru said from behind Kyou.

"If Haru's in, then I'm in as well," Makoto said with a what-can-you-do expression.

"I'll go as well," Rei said.

"Well... If everyone is going..." Rin shrugged.

And that was how they all ended up at the Iwatobi Swim Club. As soon as they entered, Haru wasted no time in stripping down to his swimming shorts. As the rest of them including Shiori went to change, Kyou moved to sit at the side on the bench. Haru was already on his third lap in the pool. He really does look graceful when he's swimming. It looked like he's finally in his own element. One by one, the boys dove into the pool. She was surprised when Makoto sat next to her.

"Not swimming?"

She gestured to her shoulder, "I don't think my stitches will agree with swimming."

"You should've said something when they suggested swimming. It won't be fun for you."

She laughed, "It's fine isn't it? Since everyone's agreeable to it, I don't want to be a spoilsport."

"Want me to call Haru over?"

"It's fine. You know how he is when he's in the pool. You should go in the pool too. I'm fine." she said, nudging Makoto towards the pool.

* * *

Kyou leaned back and tried to make herself comfortable, her stitches hurt every time she made the tiniest movements. Looking at Rin and Shiori, she had a hard time believing Shiori had rejected Rin. She was clinging to Rin's back as he was talking to Rei. Shiori looked plenty interested in Rin and Rin looked like he still held some feelings for Shiori. Kyou sighed, shifting around the bench as she gingerly touched her shoulder. She winced. She really wished she had thought to take her painkillers before they came out. The pain was starting to get to her and she was getting restless. She finally decided to get up and go sit by the pool and dip her feet in the pool.

"Kyou-senpai! Why aren't you swimming with us?" Rei asked as he swam towards her.

She felt uncomfortable as he looked at her, waiting for her answer. She didn't want to remind people of her injuries and cause a fuss so she just lifted her shoulders and shrugged.

"Hey, Shiori! Heads up!" She heard Rin shouted and as she looked up she saw him raising his hands to splash water at Shiori who was standing quite close to her. Without thinking she threw up her hands to shield herself. The movement sent a jolt of pain through her shoulders. She immediately blenched, cringing.

"Rin!" Shiori laughed, she smacked him on his arms, chastising him playfully.

Kyou gritted her teeth, she felt warmth spreading on shoulder and a quick look showed blood seeping through her cotton top. She must've reopened her wound or tore her stitches. She quickly got up as unobtrusively as possible to head to the bathroom.

"Hey, you alright?" She felt Rin pulling at her elbow, turning her around to face him.

She didn't even hear him get out of the pool. "Yeah... I just need to go to the bathroom," she said in a grimace.

"You don't-," he paused, eyes narrowing as it zeroed in on her shoulder, "You're bleeding."

She jerked her elbow away from him. "Don't make a fuss. I was just going to go get it clean it up."

"You've gotta be more careful," he said sighing.

"Whose fault do you think this is?" she said indignantly, temper rising.

His eyes widened, "What? I-"

"You were busy flirting with _your friend_ and when you tried splashing water at her, _I_ was in the line of fire. So I lifted my hands in reflex. Must've reopened the wound," she said in a single breath, chest rising up and down.

His lips parted in shock at her outburst, "I wasn't flirting."

"Really?" she sneered, stalking off in the direction of the bathroom.

She heard him catching up with her and he hissed under his breath, "You know it wasn't intentional."

"Well maybe if you weren't so busy flirting, you'd watch your surroundings better," she quipped.

"I wasn't flirting. What's wrong with you," he frowned at her, eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"Whatever. Just go back to the pool or are you planning to follow me into the female's bathroom?" she asked him, pushing the door open and letting it slam in his face.

She whirled around when she heard the door opening. "W-what are you doing?"

Rin walked in, jaws clenched as he turned around to lock the door. "Let me look at your shoulder."

"Are you insane? Get out. It's the female's bathroom," she protested as he grabbed her arm.

"It's fine, the door is locked. Now, show me your shoulder."

"You've gone insane," she said as she grudgingly pulled her collar to the side to expose her shoulder.

He hissed when he saw her shoulder. "Luckily the stitches are intact. I'll help you clean it up." He began opening the cabinet and took out a clean hand towel and started wetting it before dabbing it at her shoulder.

She flinched.

"Hold still. It'll be done soon." His eyebrows were knitted together in concentration.

He worked in silence, alternately wetting the towel and then dabbing at her shoulder. She took in his appearance as he worked. Where Haru was lean and lithe in body, Rin was built slightly broader and taller with more prominent muscles. Haru's face is cold and his features are sharp with a slight touch of prettiness whereas Rin's face are all angles and more masculine. His hands were big and wide whereas Haru's fingers are longer and slender looking. A sudden sharp pain jolted her out of her thoughts.

"Ouch."

"Sorry, it's almost done."

She tightened her grip on one of his arms, gritting her teeth in pain.

He continued to work on her shoulder, he bent his head down and some of his bangs fell forward. Without putting much thought into it, she lifted her hands from his arms and pushed the maroon strands back behind his ears. She'd only realized what she'd done when she felt him suddenly tensed up.

She laughed nervously, "Sorry, it was involuntary response."

She could feel the tension leaving his body after listening to what she said. He gave a quick nod as if to acknowledge what she said and quickly gave her shoulder a few final dabs before proclaiming it done.

It felt like hours had passed in the bathroom but in reality it seemed only 15 minutes had gone by. Emerging from the hallway into the indoor pool she could see Haru was still blissfully submerged in water, unaware of his surrounding. Rei and Nagisa were arguing over one thing or another as Makoto tried to play referee. Shiori on the other hand looked like she was sulking in the corner. She brightened up immediately when she saw Rin.

"Rin, come back in," Shiori called out.

Kyou decided to leave the two of them to it and head back to the bench. She heard Rin told Shiori he that was going to take a breather and sit on the bench for a bit. She could hear his footsteps behind her, following her to the bench.

"You don't have to stay with me."

"I'm not doing it for you. By the way, you should have suggested something else if you can't swim."

She waved his remarks away dismissively, "No reason why everyone shouldn't go swimming just because I can't."

She saw Shiori getting out of the pool and heading their way. She groaned inwardly. Even though Shiori had so far been nothing but civil to her, she found herself not too fond of the other girl. It was petty and she herself didn't know why but the other girl's presence grated on her nerves. Kyou closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.

From the corner of her eyes she could see Shiori leaned forward to whisper something in Rin's ear which caused him to laugh.

_Deep breaths, deep breaths. _

She saw Shiori reached out to push Rin's hair back from his face. She waited to see if Rin would react the same way but Rin seemed unperturbed by it. She unconsciously knocked her own head, trying to get rid of these strange unfamiliar thoughts and feelings that seemed to plague her of late.

"Kyou-san. Would you mind if I dragged Rin into the pool? I'll call Haru up if you want," Shiori said politely, smiling but her eyes were sharp.

Kyou shrugged, "Be my guest. It's not necessary to call Haru over though. He enjoys the water." She didn't missed the lack of the proper suffix -kun or -san when Shiori referred to Haru.

"Oi, Shiori. Don't go making decisions for me on your own again. I told you I feel like staying up here for a bit," Rin said but his words had no bite to it and she can see fondness in his eyes for the other girl.

Shiori pouted, "Fine. I'll stay too." She twined her arms around his neck as she boldly sat on Rin's lap.

Kyou stood up quickly, "Eh, I'm going to leave you lovebirds to it. I'm going to get a chair and sit near Haru and Makoto."

"We're not like that," Shiori said beaming, her countenance at complete odds with her words.

"Kyou..." Rin started, he looked like he was going to say something then he glanced at Shiori and thought better of it.

She turned away. It was better this way. Being around Rin recently made her mood yo-yo all over the place, it was better if she'd put some distance between them until this weird phase of hers subside.

* * *

School had finally started and Kyou, Haru and Makoto were especially busy seeing as it was their last year in high school. Apart from that they were also trying to recruit new members into the swimming club. So far they had a total of 0 applicants and the members were all frantically throwing out suggestions to attract more applicants. Even though Kyou wasn't part of the swimming club officially, she'd been trying her best to help with the club's recruitment.

After a few embarrassing attempts at trying to recruitment, they'd finally decided- with a not-so-subtle nudge from Goro-san- on winning as many matches as they can and try to draw attention with their wins in competitions. Which led them to where they were now. Participating in a public tournament.

She was still bleary eyed as they walked towards the entrance of the stadium when she heard Nagisa called out to Rin. She winced at Nagisa's enthusiastic tone. How is it that he was so perky so early in the morning.

Rin was clearly in the midst of briefing his teammates when Nagisa called out to him. Judging from the expression on his face, he obviously didn't expect to see them here. He gave them a barely perceptible nod and continued briefing his teammates. Kyou was just wondering if it was possible that Shiori, who had been glued to Rin's side like a shadow since her unexpected arrival, was not here. She tried not to roll her eyes when she spotted said girl hanging at the back, draped in Rin's Samezuka jacket.

She saw Shiori lifted her arms to wave at the Iwatobi group and she returned the wave albeit weakly. Kyou was torn between being annoyed at Shiori and feeling guilty for being annoyed at Shiori for no apparent reason.

Haru came over to give her a chaste kiss on the cheeks before he left with the rest of the guys to the locker room and she found herself a seat with Gou, Amakata-sensei and Goro-san.

"Ne, Haruka-senpai has really warmed up to you, hasn't he?" Gou said, eyeing her from the corner of her eyes.

"Eh, is that so? I guess he's slightly better now but I wouldn't say he's warmed up to me exactly."

Kyou's eyes landed on Shiori the exact time Gou spotted her.

"Shiori-san!" Gou shouted, her hands waving back and forth.

Kyou saw Shiori looked up and waved back to Gou.

"I wonder if Shiori-san is dating onii-chan?" Gou said to herself.

"Of course not. They are qonly friends," Kyou blushed as soon as she realized how fast she had blurted that out.

Gou then looked at her appraisingly, "And how do you know that?"

"Oh. Erm, I think I heard Rin saying so the other day," Kyou said, flustered.

Gou sighed, "Ahhh, that's too bad. It would be nice if he gets a girlfriend. Oh well, it might still happen. What do you think?"

"Oh look, I think it's Haru's and Rin's turn," Kyou pointed out, glad for the opportunity to change topic.

* * *

"Were you waiting to ambush me?" Haru said as in Rin stepped out from behind the lockers.

Rin gave a good natured smirk, "I've been waiting for you."

He felt Rin fell in line next to him as they headed out to the pool. Rin was saying something or other about swimming in the adjoining lane and giving him a handicap but he was a little preoccupied with his own thoughts concerning his best friend and his girlfriend until the shouts of a couple of kids snapped him out of his thoughts.

Both him and Rin quieted down as they listened to the kids boasting about winning. The friendly rivalry between the kids struck a chord in him and reminded him of how things were when they were both kids as well. Judging from Rin's expression, he obviously thought the same. His eyes caught Rin and they both laughed at the same time.

Haru hoped this feeling of camaraderie between them would never change regardless of whatever will happen in the future.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter and I'll try to update soon. As usual read, enjoy, review, follow and/or favourite!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Free!

* * *

The sakura flowers floating in the pool looked pretty and bathed in the light of the setting sun lent it a dream-like quality. She'd been looking at Rin's face, waiting for his reaction at seeing the surprise his friends had planned for him. A multitude of emotions flashed across his face before he quickly turned away and lifted a hand to cover his face. Haru had explained to her earlier that when they were younger, Rin had told them that he wanted to swim in pool of sakura.

As the boys were goading Rin to swim despite the cold weather, it suddenly started drizzling and they all started running for cover. As it was, she ended up with Haru, Rin and Makoto while Gou, Nagisa and Rei were standing under the roof close to the exit.

"Have you thought about what you are going to do after graduation?" Rin asked.

"Nope, not really," Haru instantly replied.

"How can you not think about it?" Rin asked, frustration evident on his face.

Makoto laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "You are aiming to swim at international level right? You'll probably have to go to one of those prestigious swim school in Tokyo right?" It was obvious that Makoto was trying to divert talks of the future away from him and Haru back to Rin.

Rin nodded affirmatively and launched into his explanation but he was obviously determined to find out his friends' plans for the future. "So, what are the both of you going to do?"

Makoto smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I haven't really thought about it."

"What about you?" Rin suddenly shifted his attention to her. She'd been sitting down at the back, quietly listening to their conversation that it took her a few seconds to realized that he was talking to her.

"Mmm...I'm actually hoping to get into med school," she said, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. The topic of where they were all going after high school had not really come up and this was the first time she had told anyone apart from her parents and her teacher.

Haru whipped his head around to look at her, an inscrutable expression on his face.

"That's amazing, Kyou. Your grades have always been very good anyway. What's your first choice?" Makoto asked.

"It's a long shot, I don't even know if I can get in but I'm aiming for the University of Tokyo."

"Heh, you're aiming really high but I think you're gonna get in otherwise you'd never put it as your first choice," Rin said, smirking.

Haru had kept quiet the entire time and she could feel his eyes burning holes into her. They had obviously not discussed what they were going to do after graduation. Whether they would still be together and give the whole long distance thing a try or would they call it quits. And to be honest, she didn't think Haru would care very much and she didn't dare bring it up.

"I agree with Rin. I think you'll definitely get in," Makoto smiled affably.

"I hope so. If I don't get in, I'll be in Kyoto University. It's almost equally as good. And it's closer to home too," she said, shrugging.

"I hope you'll be going to Tokyo as well. It'll be nice to have another familiar face in a new city," Rin said with a soft smile on his face.

She saw Haru's gaze sharpened instantly as he turned and tilted his head to look at Rin. Haru seemed to be mulling over something but as usual he kept quiet and didn't say much.

_"Another _familiar face?" Makoto looked confused.

"Oh, yeah, I have one or two friends who are in Tokyo and Shiori is considering furthering her studies in Tokyo as well."

"The rain has stop. Shall we go?" Haru suddenly interjected. He extended his hand to her, waiting for her to grab his hand. She quickly stood up and brushed the dirt off her skirt before taking his hands.

"See you soon, Rin. I hope you like the surprise even though you didn't get to swim," Makoto said, adjusting the strap of his bag.

Rin nodded, "Ahh... Thanks, Makoto. You too, Haru."

* * *

The following week was extremely hectic and they all barely had time to do anything other than practice and start working on their university application. Kyou could tell that Haru and Makoto were still undecided about their future and was under pressure to decide soon. Ever since the talk they had and Haru finding out about her future plans he had been even more pensive and withdrawn. She kept waiting for him to bring up the topic about her plans but so far he'd been keeping quiet. But between school and extracurricular activities, none of them had time to dwell on anything at all.

Because the weather is still slightly cold out, they'd been holding their practices at Iwatobi SC. Goro-san had been kind enough to let them use the pool. The Iwatobi SC had been bought over by Goro-san and had undergone major refurbishment during the past winter and it's finally ready to open it's door to the public.

As usual she had her textbook on her lap, studying and working on her homework while she waited for the rest to finish with their practice. She was so absorbed in reading her text she didn't realized that there was a big discussion going on until Nagisa called out to her.

"Hmmm? Sorry, I didn't catch what you said." She looked up from her textbook, surprised that most of them are out of the pool with the exception of Haru of course.

"Haven't you been listening? Goro-san is having a Splash Fest here as a way to promote the re opening of Iwatobi SC. We were just thinking of different kinds of events that we could do," Nagisa rattled on without pausing that she was worried he would pass out from the lack of oxygen.

"Ooh, that sounds fun. What have you guys came up with so far?" She put her books down and smiled indulgently at Nagisa.

"Hmmm, we have swimming competition for the kids with kick board, feudal era swimming competition with armors on-" Nagisa started.

"Let's not forget our Mr. Muscle competion," Gou interrupted enthusiastically.

Makoto frowned, "We'll need to promote the event to create awareness though. Maybe we can help with handing out and putting up flyers?"

Rei nodded, "That sounds good. We should get started as soon as possible."

"You guys let me know if you need my help with anything. As for right now, I really need to finish this," Kyou said pointing to her book.

After all the discussion had been done, they spent the weekend distributing the flyers and putting it up wherever they could and by the time they were done, it was almost evening. From the conversation around her, she figured it had something to do with not having any idea on what they should do for the main event yet. They bounced ideas back and forth and none was deemed good enough until Haru suddenly spoke up.

"We could showcase a relay race."

Everyone turned to look at Haru in shock before exploding in excitements.

"If we are going to do a relay then we would need opponent, wouldn't we?" Rei asked.

Nagisa and Gou exchanged knowing smiles. "Heh. Don't worry about that. Let's call Onii-chan," Gou said.

Gou took out her phone and put it on loud speaker as she dialled Rin's number. It rang 3 times before Rin finally picked up.

"Yea, hello?"

"Onii-chan! I've got a favour to ask from you," Gou started and that was all Kyou could catch because Gou started rambling and speaking really fast and she wondered if anybody apart from Nagisa understood what she said. It didn't help at all when Nagisa jumped into the conversation as well.

"Hah? Splash Fest? Slow down, I can't hear you," Rin said.

Kyou sighed and plucked the phone from Gou's hands. "Hey, Rin?"

"Kyou? What are they on about?"

She saw Nagisa opening his mouth and she lifted her hands up to stop him, motioning that she'll do the explaining. If she'd let Nagisa and Gou continued there would be no end to it.

"Yeah, you know Iwatobi SC is reopening right? As a way to promote the club, Goro-san is planning to hold a Splash Fest and there'll be many mini events on that day," she said evenly before continuing, "Anyway, for the main event Haru suggested that we do a relay showcase."

"And... We are hoping you'll be our opponent," Makoto finished her sentence.

She heard Rin sighed, "You guys..."

Nagisa and Gou immediately jumped in, "Pleaseeeeeeee..."

Rin sighed again, "I'll see what I can do. No promises though."

Gou cheered and Nagisa started whooping.

"Heh... You know you'll end up doing it for them anyway," she said teasing to Rin.

"Tch. Whatever. I'll let you guys know anyway. I'll talk to you all soon," Rin said before hanging up.

* * *

As expected, Rin agreed to participate in the relay and they had all agreed to meet at the Iwatobi SC in the morning. Makoto was uncharacteristically late and she and Haru was waiting for him to show up. About 10 minutes later, Makoto showed up, panting. Ran, his sister, was clinging on to his neck while Ren, his brother, was pulling him along.

"Sorry guys, these two decided to come along and they kept forgetting their things," Makoto said, out of breath.

"It's fine. Come on let's go," Haru said turning around.

"Kyou-chan! I want to hold your hands," Ren said, running towards her.

She smiled and extended her hand to him when she pulled back suddenly.

"No. I was holding her hands first," Haru said stoically before he looked away.

She laughed awkwardly, "Haru...," she admonished him.

"That's not fair, Haru-chan. You can hold her left hand and I'll hold her right hand," Ren pouted.

She laughed, ruffling Ren's hair and holding his hand, "Alright, come on or else we'll be late."

Haru bent slightly to look at Ren, "I'll allow you to do it this once."

"He can do it as often as he likes," Kyou turned to say to Haru. She laughed when he _hmmphed_ and turned away sulkily.

"And I can be your boyfriend, Kyou-chan," Ren continued innocently as everyone laughed with the exception of Haru.

The rest of the group were congregated near the entrance when they arrived. Everyone was buzzing with excitement. Ran and Ren ran to greet the rest as they made their way to the group.

"These are yours," Gou said as she handed them the itinerary for the day.

"Looks like the turn out is quite good," Makoto commented looking at the crowd around him.

They all turned when they heard a commotion by the entrance. Rin walked in, an orange haired boy held in a head lock, making a ruckus as Nitori Aiichiro trailed behind.

Gou beamed and started waving and running towards her brother and Kyou saw the orange haired boy's eyes sparkled as he quieted down, his previous demeanor gone.

"Rin, thanks for coming," Makoto said as the rest nodded appreciatively.

"Y-you're really cuteee," the orange haired boy said, making googly eyes at Gou.

"Yo," Rin nodded at Kyou as she finally approached the group from the back.

She smiled, "Looks like you've got another guy to fend off from your sister," she said with a laugh.

At the sound of her voice, the orange haired boy's attention snapped to her. "Oh. You're pretty as well. I guess I'll forgive him for tricking me here. My name is Mikoshiba Momotarou. Nice to meet you, you can call me Momo," he said, pointing to Rin. Momo then immediately turned his attention back to Gou.

Rin tightened his chokehold on Momo. "That's my sister you're making googly eyes at."

"Sousuke-kun!" Gou suddenly said, running towards a tall, black haired boy. Shiori was walking next to him.

Kyou saw the black haired boy's gaze swept across all the guys before it rested on Haru. She couldn't decipher the look that flashed in his eyes before it disappeared. She couldn't help feeling a little uneasy at the look and she moved closer to Haru as she slipped her hands into his. She saw the guy's gaze turned to her and trailed down to her and Haru's hands.

"It's been such a long time since I saw all of you," Shiori tittered, glued to Rin's side.

"It's nice seeing you again, Shiori-san," Rei said politely and the rest murmured their assent.

"Anyway, I'll see you guys inside. I'll take this bunch to go change first," Rin said, dragging Momo who was enthusiastically introducing himself to Gou.

* * *

"Do you know him?" Kyou turned to Haru once the Samezuka group left.

"Yamazaki Sousuke? Not personally," Haru said.

"Oh, he looked at you as if he knows you," Kyou said, biting her lips.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Haru's one of the best when it comes to swimming, it's not a surprise if other swimmers know who he is," Makoto explained, shrugging.

"Kyou-chan, will you cheer for me?" Ren ran to her, arms around her waist.

Haru looked at him and Ren stuck his tongue out at Haru. Kyou laughed. The ever stoic Haru's composure were almost ruffled by a 9 years old boy.

She patted Ren's head. "Of course. I'll be sitting right here watching you and Ran."

"If I win, can I be your boyfriend?" Ren asked innocently.

Makoto laughed. "Do you even know what that means?"

Ren huffed. "O-of course. When you like someone, you ask to become their boyfriend. And you can play games together all the time."

"Hmmm. You'll have to ask Haru," Kyou said, pretending to be deep in thought.

"Haru-ch..."

"No," Haru cut him off.

"Fighting with a 9 years old over Kyou?" Rin asked, slinging his arm over Haru's shoulder.

Haru turned his face to the side and mumbled, "Not really, no."

As Rin turned to look at Kyou, his eyes slid down from her face to her shoulder and she saw his eyes hardened momentarily. She looked down her shoulders and saw the pinkish line of a scar on her shoulder. He must have still felt guilty.

"Wanna go get refreshments?" Gou asked.

Momo, Rei, Nagisa, Nitori and the kids went with Gou leaving only her, Haru, Rin, Sousuke and Shiori. They all shuffled around awkwardly before Makoto indicated that they should find a spot to sit. The awkward atmosphere probably came from Sousuke's presence. Even after being introduced, he was quiet and withdrawn, making it hard to start a conversation with him. The only person he spoke to was Rin.

"Are we still on for movies tonight?" Kyou overheard Shiori asking Rin.

"Yeah, 9 pm right? I'll come get you. It's dangerous for you to make the trek across campus at night," Rin shrugged.

Rin caught Kyou's eyes and she quickly turned away. It wasn't any of her business what they do together anyway.

"Rin-chan! Are you going on date tonight?" Nagisa teased, smiling slyly.

"Oi. What are you going on about? We are just hanging out," Rin said annoyed. She saw him looking at her again and she quickly ducked her head.

"Yea, hanging out just one boy and one girl. Do the math. It's a date, I tell you," Nagisa continued relentlessly.

"Tch. You're annoying," Rin said dismissively.

"I'm going to get a drink, you want anything?" Kyou turned to ask Haru.

"Yea. Just get me whatever that's available. Thanks," Haru said.

She turned around and asked if anybody else wanted anything and most of them wanted snacks.

As she got up, Rin got up as well. "I'll help you. There's too much stuff for you to carry alone."

"Thanks." She couldn't help but feel awkward around him. She was aware that he was scrutinizing her and she stared straight ahead, not wanting to make eye contact.

"How have you been?" he asked cautiously, as if testing the water.

"Good, good. Been busy with school work mostly." She kept her eyes so focused in front that it jolted her when she felt Rin's hands on her shoulder. "W-what?"

"The scar. Will it go away?" He asked softly. She felt jolts of electricity when his fingertips started tracing the diagonal line of her scars.

She quickly shrugged his hands off. "I'm not too sure. I'm sure it will go away with time."

He narrowed his eyes at her, "Is everything okay? You've been acting a little strange."

She snorted, "I am not acting strange."

"You are." He glared at her.

"Am not." She glared back at him.

Almost at the same time they both erupted in laughters.

"You're an idiot," he said.

"Am not."

"Really? Again? So what's wrong?"

"It really isn't anything. Just stressed about school and Haru has not mentioned what his plans for after graduation yet. So it kinda feels like limbo."

"Would his decision affect yours?"

"No, I don't think so. I don't know. It's just that it'll be nice to know if we are going to try the whole ldr thing or if we are going to call it quits."

"Ldr?" Rin looked confused.

"Long distance relationship," she said. "Who knows if we are even going to be together by graduation."

"Why wouldn't you be together with Haru?" His tone was serious.

Something in his voice made her look at him and she saw his eyes darkened. A swirl of emotions ran through her. She didn't want to put names to those emotions yet not when she wasn't even sure of what's happening. She kept quiet as they kept looking at each other.

"Is it just m-"

"Ah, onii-chan! Are you here to get snacks as well?" Gou suddenly called out, effectively cutting out what Rin was trying to say.

The moment was broken and she heaved a sigh of relief. She had no idea what Rin was going to say and to be honest, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.

* * *

_Too close._ He had almost just started something he had no business starting. He glanced furtively at Haru, and was relieved to see he was somewhat preoccupied talking to Shiori. It wasn't his intention but the look in her eyes, it was almost as if she felt the same way and that was when he almost let loose the words_ Is it just me or do you feel this as well? _

Rin lifted a hand to his face. It was cheesy as hell and he had almost propositioned his best friend's girlfriend. Something really needs to be done to stop all this. He had tried avoiding her and minimizing their contact with each other and obviously that didn't work out so well. He let out a string of curses, he knew that sooner or later something has got to give.

* * *

"You know, don't you?" A voice jolted Haru out of his reverie.

"What?" He said somewhat curtly.

Shiori nodded towards Kyou's and Rin's direction. She looked at him, studying his expression. When it was obvious that she wasn't going to get a response, she pressed on. "You know that Rin likes her, don't you?"

Haru kept quiet, his face a mask of stone. He refused to give her any reaction. It was obvious she was trying to get a rise out of him. And it wasn't like she was telling him something he don't already know. In fact, before she'd so rudely interrupted him, he was watching Kyou and Rin.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" She asked, clearly getting more and more frustrated. "It's because you're like this that she's going to end up leaving you," she said cruelly, sneering, when he still wouldn't look at her.

"What's in it for you? Let me guess. Rin?" He asked without so much as a look in her direction.

She looked taken aback. "It's not like that. I just don't want him hurt."

"So you're saying you don't like Rin at all in that way?"

She took time to consider before replying. "It doesn't matter how I feel. It's too late. I just don't want him to get hurt."

"And what do you think I should do? You're not being honest with yourself. If you didn't want Rin to get hurt, wouldn't you want Kyou to be with him then? But the fact that you're subtly trying to ask me to up my game just proves that you don't want Rin to be with Kyou."

"And are you okay with that? If Rin ends up with Kyou?" She shot back.

"Not that it's any of your business but all I can say is that I'd rather be alone than to keep someone who doesn't love me beside me. But as long as I know there's even a little bit of feelings for me, I'll fight for it till the end."

Shiori let out a bitter laugh. "I'm really almost jealous of her."

Haru turned away, signaling the end of their conversation. It was easy for him to say that but he really hoped that it wouldn't come down to that.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** So, this is an extremely short chapter and rest he assured that the next chapter will coming up very soon. I've gotten questions about Makoto. If he likes Kyou and if him liking Kyou is going to spoil the dynamic of the entire story. I hope his chapter answers your questions and if it doesn't feel free to ask me for clarification. As usual, I hope you all enjoy, read, review, follow and/or favorite the story! xxx

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Free!

* * *

He had always been on the sidelines. Watching. Waiting. It wasn't as if he hated it. He liked that role. The sidekick role. He doesn't understand why it has such a negative connotation to it and why most people would shy away from it, they all want to be the main character. But _not_ him. He's contented being the sidekick. The supportive role. From the time when they were young, he'd always yield to his friends. Especially Haru. And one might think he might be resentful but he was happy conceding if it made other's happy. It was like when they were young, him and Haru would always end up liking the same toys or games. And without fail, if there was only one of it, Makoto would always relent and let Haru have it. So it didn't come as much of a surprise to find that both of them, 3 of them if they counted Rin, fell for the same girl. And if he thought about it, Rin was also another main character. Rin was equal to Haru and he usually fights for what he wants. It wasn't to say that Makoto himself is lesser than the two of them merely because he lacks certain characteristics that would make him a main character, it was the simple fact that he wanted to be a side character. And he knew as soon as he realized that they all fell for the same girl that he would never get the girl because he would pull himself out of the competition. He wouldn't even try. His decisions were made easier by the knowledge that the one she liked wasn't him. But sometimes in the dead of the night, he wondered if he had not given in and threw in the towel before it even started, would things have turned out differently? Who knows? To begin with, it was him who met her first, spoke to her first and subsequently fell for her first.

When Haru and her got together, he was happy for them regardless of the pinch he felt in his heart. It was easy being happy when both his best friend and the girl he likes was happy. But he's still human and when he sees the fleeting looks between them, the ease in which they held each other's hand and the way their heads are bent together exchanging words that only they knew, he sometimes feel a sharp pang of pain. But still, he did not regret his decision one bit and he's happy as long as they were and tried to do as much as he could to help them along without interfering too much. It frustrated him at times when he could clearly see how much Haru liked her yet at the same time failed to convey that emotion to her. And it broke his heart a little to see the forlorn expression on her face when she thought that Haru didn't care. But he could see things are getting better between them, at least for the time being.

At first he didn't pay much thought to her blossoming friendship with Rin. In fact, he had been happy that they were getting along. Kyou had not been shy in telling him and Haru that she didn't trust Rin in the beginning so when they started getting along he'd let out a sigh of relief. But it wasn't long before Makoto noticed Rin's furtive looks when he thought she wasn't looking, the way his hands lingered longer than necessary whenever he touched her and even the way Rin subconsciously softened whenever she was around.

Makoto's sure that Rin's a good friend and that he wouldn't do anything about Kyou. Especially not when Haru and her had been going out so long now. He could see the efforts Rin put into distancing himself from her. Saw him failed. Saw him trying, still trying, to maintain a platonic relationship with her. And what Makoto was sure no one have yet to realized was that Kyou was slowly falling for Rin as well. It was going to make things complicated because he could tell that she still likes Haru as well.

For once in Makoto's life, he'd wondered how different his life would be if he was a main character. If only he had the attitude necessary to fight for the girl he fell for. Rin, blessed his heart, probably thought that he didn't pursue his best friend's girlfriend but the truth is the entire time Rin had unconsciously been pursuing her. He had not given her up, not the way Makoto had. And that was the difference between the main character and the supporting character. Makoto wondered then if he didn't give up earlier in the game, would she be looking at him now like how she looked at Haru and Rin. But he knew he could never get in between these people. He loves each of them individually too much to ruin it all by going after the one thing all of them wanted. He'd rather have _all_ of them than just one. So even though sometimes in the night all the what-ifs taunt him and haunt him, at the very end he was still glad he took himself out of the equation. Even though the girl he likes will never know how he feels, and he'll never know what it's like to hold her hands or hug her, Makoto sleeps well at night knowing that he still have the 3 of them. And that makes him happy. And it was enough for him.


End file.
